The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama reported collecting more than $10.5 million in civil and criminal actions during Fiscal Year 2025. Of the total amount, $5,051,988.20 came from criminal actions while $5,507,865.62 was collected through civil cases.
U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona stated, “I am tremendously proud of the work done by my office’s Financial Litigation Program. The Financial Litigation Program works tirelessly to collect debts owed to the United States, as well as those owed to crime victims.”
One notable case highlighted by the office involved Robert Winston Burgett, who was sentenced in April 2025 for embezzling nearly $950,000 from the City of Homewood. Shortly after sentencing, the Financial Litigation Program identified Burgett’s retirement accounts and issued collection orders on them; so far, $195,000 has been recovered.
The responsibilities of the U.S. Attorneys’ Office include enforcing and collecting both civil and criminal debts owed to the United States government and restitution payments owed to federal crime victims. Defendants are required by law to pay restitution if their crimes caused physical injury or financial loss to victims. While these payments go directly to victims, other penalties such as fines are directed into the Crime Victims Fund which supports victim compensation and assistance programs at both federal and state levels.
In addition to debt collection efforts, the office worked with partner agencies in Fiscal Year 2025 to initiate forfeiture proceedings against 314 criminal assets across 134 cases—nearly double compared with previous years’ numbers. Many forfeitures included firearms used in drug trafficking or violent crimes; these weapons are destroyed upon seizure. Proceeds from other forfeited assets can be allocated toward victim restitution or shared with law enforcement partners or deposited into the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Fund for use in law enforcement activities and victim support initiatives.
For this fiscal year, the Asset Forfeiture Unit secured $13,227,075 in money judgments owed to the United States as a result of these efforts.
